There had to be a way to track this guy. And if I can’t? Or if I can’t before tonight?
Then you’ll have to do what he says. “No,” Eric said firmly.
But when he pulled onto the street, his mind was already working the logistics of a factory arson. Just in case.
Monday, September 20, 9:55 a.m.
She’s here. David’s hands stilled on the line he was reeling in. He watched Kane’s Ford pull through the construction gate, his heart pounding and stomach jumping like he was thirteen and just about to ask a girl to his first school dance.
A pang of regret pushed through his sudden nerves. And we all know how well that ended, he thought bitterly. Nearly twenty years of service hadn’t been enough to atone. He was pretty sure a lifetime wouldn’t be enough. He could only do what he could do. And make sure this time, with this woman, it ended differently.
“She’s here,” Jeff said, dragging the last few feet of line to the truck. They’d spent the last hour walking the five-inch line, squeezing every drop of water from the hose. Every few minutes David had glanced toward the front gate, waiting. Now she was here.
Jeff’s grin told him that any attempt at nonchalance would be folly. “I see her,” he said, half expecting his voice to crack as it would have at thirteen. Gratefully it did not.
He watched as Olivia got out of the passenger side, the morning sun making her hair gleam gold. Then she bent over to get something from the front seat, giving him a perfect view of her very round rear end and he couldn’t control the sudden breath that hissed between his teeth. Vague recollections taunted him once again and he jerked his eyes away, staring instead at his hands.
He knew how she felt. How those smooth round curves fit in his hands. Perfectly. He shouldn’t know, but he did. And he needed to know again. Quelling a shudder, he exhaled, willing the need away. As if.
“I have to agree,” Jeff murmured in approval. “Very nice.”
David gritted his teeth against the urge to tell Jeff to keep his damn eyes to his damn self, making his voice deceptively mild. “Kayla would gouge your eyes out.”
Jeff’s grin broadened. “She can’t say anything. I’ve caught her eyeing your ass.”
David rolled his eyes. “Barlow called to say they wanted to see the fourth floor,” he made himself say reasonably. “Give me a hand with this line so we can leave.”
But Jeff continued to stare at the detectives’ car. “Hey, your lady brought food. From the Deli. That’s the good stuff. Take a break, Dave. You know you want to.”
Jeff walked off and David slowly stood, watching her kick the car door closed with her foot. Your lady. She wasn’t, of course. She might have been, if things had gone differently. If I hadn’t done… whatever. But she was here. Because it’s her job, idiot.
But she’d brought food, so that was a good sign. This is the opportunity you’ve waited for. Don’t blow it like you blew it the last time.
Which he obviously had, but that recollection was more vague than the others. Squaring his shoulders, he started to walk, knowing the exact instant she saw him coming. She went still, gripping a bag in one hand and a thermos in the other, and she looked right at him. He didn’t breathe for the space of three hard beats of his heart.
And then she looked away when Jeff reached her first, taking the bag from her hands. “There’s coffee in the thermos,” he heard her say when he got close.
Jeff was already stuffing his face. “Bacon, egg, and cheese,” he mumbled. “God, I thought I was going to drop. Thank you. There’s plenty, Dave. Have some.”
“There is plenty,” she said quietly, her eyes flickering everywhere but at his face, and David felt the frustration of being an adult trapped at a junior high party.
“Any news on the girl?” he asked and she finally met his eyes. Hers were round, blue as the sky, and very serious.
“Not yet. The hearing aid should help us narrow it down, so thank you.”
“Barlow said you wanted to see the fourth floor. I can take you up from the outside, but getting around on the inside still isn’t safe, especially without boots.”
She nodded. “Got it. Is there room for both Kane and me in the bucket?”
Kane walked up, a small black bag in one hand. “Me, go up in the bucket? I don’t think so. You go up. Here’s the camera. And my field glasses.”
She took the items he shoved into her hands. “You’re not going? Why the hell not?”
Kane’s expression was one of mild embarrassment. “Heights and me… a big no.”
She gave her partner a dirty look. “Wuss,” she muttered, then looked back up at David resolutely. “Then let’s go up. You want to eat something first?”
He didn’t think he could. “No, thanks. Zell, let’s go. I need you to man the truck.”
“I could go up with her. Or not,” Jeff added when David’s eyes narrowed. With a jovial grin, Jeff wiped his hands on the bandana he kept in his pocket and passed the bag of sandwiches to the captain, who’d just joined them. “Save me one.”
Casey smiled at Olivia. “Thanks, Detective. This was really nice of you,” he said.
“Our pleasure. I figured you’d all be hungry, staying here all night. We won’t keep you here any longer than we have to.” She looked around. “Where is Sergeant Barlow?”
“He said he had some reports to write,” Casey said, “and he’d be back after noon. Two guys from Arson are in there now, gridding off each floor so they can search.”
They’d search carefully, David knew, sifting the ash, looking for anything that could lead them to the arsonist. “Barlow said we should show you what we showed him. You can see the first floor through that window.”
David led Olivia and Kane to the first-floor window. “This window was regular glass and probably blew out in the first minutes of the fire. We found the backpack and the hearing aid on the other side of that hole.” Standing behind her, he leaned so that his cheek was inches from her temple and pointed. “There, where CSU left the markers.”
“I see,” she murmured. Her shoulders stiffened, but she didn’t shrink away and he took that as a good sign. “CSU took the items already?”
“About an hour ago.” He should move. He really should. He knew he reeked from smoke and sweat. But her hair smelled like honeysuckle, just as he remembered, and he took another second to fill his head with her scent before backing away.
Kane had leaned around her other side to stick his head through the window and whistled softly. “That is one hell of a hole, Hunter.”
“Tell me about it,” David said grimly.
Olivia’s brows crunched as she strained to see around the interior walls that remained. “The gel that covered the ball,” she said. “Did you find any down here?”
“No,” David said. “And I looked. But this area is a mess. If there was any gel, it’d be mixed with ash by now. The water pushes everything together. If it’s there, the arson guys will find it while they’re sifting. It’s thicker than kindergarten paste.”
She glanced up at him then. “We need you to keep the gel and the ball to yourself. It’s important. Who else knows about it?”
“Just me and Zell,” he said. “And Barlow. And the captain.”
“And Carrie and Gabe,” Jeff added from behind them, then shrugged when Olivia turned a mild glare on him. “I didn’t know, and Dave’s catch was too good not to tell.”
“Carrie and Gabe are on our team,” David told her when she turned the mild glare from Jeff to him. “They can keep a secret.”
“So can I,” Jeff said, aggrieved. “When I know I have to.”
“Can we talk to Carrie and Gabe?” Kane asked. “We need to keep it under wraps.”